Qatar will be the first team since Italy in the second World Cup in 1934 to participate in the finals for the first time as a host without having previously qualified for the tournament.
No amount of preparation is enough to snuff out the threat of Argentina's "assassin" Lionel Messi, Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez said ahead of Friday's Copa America clash between the teams. Messi was an unused substitute in Argentina's 2-1 win over holders Chile in their opening Group D match in Santa Clara, California on Monday after a back injury but will reappear when they face Panama in Chicago. "Leo trained normally, he will play," coach Gerardo Martino told a news conference on Thursday. Both sides have three points after Panama marked their first appearance in the world's oldest international tournament with a surprise 2-1 win over Bolivia, who face Chile in Foxborough on Friday.
Following are the teams in eight groups for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Qatar from November 20-December 18.
A summary of Thursday's South American World Cup qualifiers.
Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the 2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.
They were two small Argentina players with the same enormous challenge -- to meet the expectations of a soccer-mad country. Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi have both proved themselves to be skilful giants on the world soccer stage despite their diminutive frames of 1.65 and 1.70 metres respectively.
"We had a crazy coach who gave us instructions and motivated us strongly during halftime," Saudi Arabia midfielder Abdel-Ilah al-Maliki told Al-Kass TV station after the win over Argentina.
Christian Pulisic scored his 10th goal for the United States before being substituted after picking up a knock in a 1-1 draw with Chile in a friendly in Houston on Tuesday.
Juventus rehire Allegri.
Lionel Messi marked his retirement about face with a goal to give 10-man Argentina a 1-0 win over Uruguay on Thursday that lifted them to the top of the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
Lionel Messi drew level with Diego Maradona's number of World Cup goals and appearances on Saturday, but the current No. 10 knows that only winning the trophy at long last will earn him the same eternal love of his fellow Argentines.
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi will renew old acquaintances when his reigning two-times Copa America champions take on Portugal in what he expects to be a tough Confederations Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Choking back tears, midfielder Arturo Vidal made a public apology for crashing his Ferrari.
Uruguay crushed Ecuador 4-0 in their Copa America opener on Sunday with help from an early sending off that deflated their opponents and assured the 15-times champions the simplest of starts to their campaign.
Saudi Arabia stunned Lionel Messi's Argentina 2-1 with brilliant individual goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari during the FIFA World Cup Group C match on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi announced on Friday that he wants to return to play for the national team, reversing his decision to retire earlier this year. Messi said in June that he would not play for Argentina again after the team lost to Chile in the final of the Copa America.
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has returned home to Argentina but remains doubtful for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela with his club confirming the 29-year-old is struggling with a sore left hamstring.
Lionel Messi's triumphant Argentina comeback has been tempered by a hint he may not be fit to play in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Venezuela. Messi, who had gone back on his decision to quit the team following their Copa America final defeat in June, scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Uruguay on Thursday that sent Argentina to the top of the South American group. However, the Argentina captain said he had a groin pain and had to think about his fitness at the start of a busy season for his national side and his club Barcelona.
Luis Suarez scored his first Uruguay goals since the World Cup finals and his biting bran in a 3-0 friendly win over Oman on Monday.
Argentina had a scare when Lionel Messi had to be substituted after incurring a back injury during a 1-0 win over rugged Honduras in a Copa America Centenario warm-up friendly on Friday. Messi walked off in pain in the 64th minute in San Juan after a clash with Honduras substitute Oliver Morazan 10 days before Argentina's opening Group D match against Chile. The team later dispelled fears of a serious injury, saying on their Twitter account that Messi had "suffered bruising on the left of his lower back and ribs." Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal for Argentina. In other warm-up matches for the June 3-26 tournament in the United States, Edinson Cavani struck twice as Uruguay overcame Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 and title holders Chile were upset 2-1 by Jamaica.
A spokesperson for FIFA told Reuters that they were aware that there were "serious financial problems on account of the coronavirus outbreak."
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Carlos Tevez holds out no hope of being part of Argentina's World Cup squad and prefers not to watch their matches on television, the Juventus striker said on Friday.
Brazil have shown all the signs they can rule the world yet again in Russia but they must make their excellent preparations count in their World Cup Group E opener against a resilient Switzerland side on Sunday in Rostov.
Atletico Madrid have moved to strengthen their forward line for next season following the exit of Mario Mandzukic by agreeing to buy Colombia striker Jackson Martinez from Porto.
A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
Professional football has been wiped off the map for weeks, maybe months, after all the major leagues, cups and international competitions were suspended, culminating in the postponement of Euro 2020 and Copa America on Tuesday.
Brazil fought back from a goal down to score three times in the second half and record a 3-1 win over Venezuela that maintained their 100 percent record in qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
The tournament brings together the six continental champions from across the world, with European Champions League winners Bayern Munich the first to have qualified.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah were named as the three finalists.
Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
While domestic leagues are hoping to resume when the threat from the virus has receded, concrete start dates have yet to be fixed. That leaves the issue of expiring player contracts, which are usually timed to finish at the end of a given season, as a potential headache.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The International Olympic Committee does not plan any "drastic" decisions about the Tokyo 2020 Games, saying on Tuesday it remains fully committed to the event being staged in four months time despite the global spread of the coronavirus. The IOC said in a statement following discussions with international sports federations that changes would need to be made to the qualifiers due to the impact of the virus but it plans to go ahead with the July 24-Aug 9 Olympics.
Pragmatic, difficult to beat, spearheaded by talismanic forwards and led by veteran, battle-hardened coaches -- few teams have as much in common with each other as Uruguay and Portugal who meet in a World Cup round of 16 tie on Saturday.
Parma, joint bottom of Serie A alongside Cesena, have signed Uruguay midfielder Cristian Rodriguez and Portugal forward Silvestre Varela, both on loan, the club said on Tuesday.
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